Joe Root Test Record: Batting, Bowling, Captaincy

Joe Root stepped down as England Test captain on Friday after taking over the role in 2017 as Alastair Cook's successor.

Joe Root quit as Test captain in 2022 (Image credit: Twitter)
By Samrat Chakraborty | Apr 16, 2022 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Joe Root stepped down as England Test captain on Friday after a terrible performance in the Caribbean which saw them lose the series against the West Indies. 

Root highlighted that his decision came after reflecting on the loss but he remains immensely proud to have led his side over the years and wants to contribute as a batter to the national team in the coming years.

“I am immensely proud to have captained my country and will look back on the past five years with enormous pride. It has been an honour to have done the job and to have been a custodian of what is the pinnacle of English cricket,” Root said in an official statement.

“After returning from the Caribbean tour and having time to reflect, I have decided to step down as England Men’s Test captain. It has been the most challenging decision I have had to make in my career but having discussed this with my family and those closest to me; I know the timing is right,” he added. 

Root was appointed as the captain of England in 2017 as he took over the role from Alastair Cook. Under his reign, England saw many famous victories, which includes a 4-1 home series win over India in 2018 and a 3-1 triumph away to South Africa in 2020.In 2018 he became the first England Men’s Captain to win a Test series in Sri Lanka since 2001, a feat he went on to repeat with a 2-0 victory in Sri Lanka in 2021.

READ MORE: Joe Root steps down as England Test captain

Joe Root Test Record: Batting

Root is the highest Test run scorer for England. His tally of 5295 runs as skipper is the highest by any England captain and puts him 5th in the all-time list behind only Graeme Smith, Alan Border, Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli.

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Test11721615988925449.191809454.6525531088251520

Joe Root Test Record: Bowling

Root bowls part-time off-break and leg-break for England. He has 45 wickets to his name with the best bowling figures of 5/8 in a match.

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Test11711238422046455/85/3345.463.1985.3110

Joe Root Test Record: Captaincy

Root was the most successful Test captain for England as the 27 victories under his reign put him ahead of former greats Michael Vaughan (26), Cook and Andrew Strauss (24 each).

He is seventh in the list of most match as Test captain in the all-time list.

PlayerSpanMatWonLostTiedDrawW/L%W%L
GC Smith (ICC/SA)2003-201410953290271.8248.6226.6
AR Border (AUS)1984-19949332221381.4534.423.65
SP Fleming (NZ)1997-20068028270251.033533.75
RT Ponting (AUS)2004-20107748160133.0062.3320.77
CH Lloyd (WI)1974-19857436120263.0048.6416.21
V Kohli (INDIA)2014-20226840170112.3558.8225
JE Root (ENG)2017-20226427260111.0342.1840.62